Russian Air Force base may be created in Syria in future - first deputy chief of General Staff

NOVOSIBIRSK, September 16. /TASS/. Russian army’s General Staff does not rule out the creation in the future of a Russian Air Force base in Syria, First Deputy Chief of the Russian General Staff Nikolai Bogdanovsky told reporters on Wednesday. "There are no such plans [for the base creation] yet. But anything might happen," he said. The Russian Navy has a logistics base at Syria’s Tartus port. The Pentagon previously reported that Russia might begin preparations for the construction of an air base near the Syrian city of Latakia. "We have seen indications in recent days that Russia has moved people and things into the area around Latakia and the air base there that suggest it intends to establish some sort of forward air operating base," Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters. Before that, there were media reports about the presence of Russian troops on the territory of Syria. White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said that the U.S. administration was "aware of reports that Russia may have deployed military personnel and aircraft to Syria, and we are monitoring those reports quite closely." "Any military support to the Assad regime for any purpose, whether it's in the form of military personnel, aircraft supplies, weapons, or funding, is both destabilising and counterproductive," he added. Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said he had no information about Russia’s alleged building up its military presence in Syria. Read more